 Downtown Bellevue covers 400 acres and includes nearly 5 million square feet of
retail and entertainment uses and more than 6 million square feet of office
space. There are close to 35,000 workers and nearly 5,000 residents housed in
downtown. The community is also home to the Bellevue Arts Museum and the
Meydenbauer Center, two of the Eastside's most outstanding arts and convention
venues, the award-winning King County Library, as well as one of the nation's
premier shopping centers, Bellevue Square. It has been estimated that over the
next 20 years, 70% of Bellevue's population and employment growth will occur in
downtown.
Compared to Seattle, Bellevue does not have an economically diverse urban
area. As a result, this downtown park is not so much a refuge from the pressures
of the big city. Instead, it is a 19-acre oasis of greenery in what is already a
nice neighborhood. The park contains a beautiful waterfall, a lovely meadow and
a whole range of carefully tended plants and flowers that will delight the
senses.
Downtown Bellevue features well known restaurants such as P.F. Chang's China
Bistro, Ruth's Chris Steak House, Z'Tejas Southwestern Grill, The Cheesecake
Factory and Maggiano's as well as many local favorites like Daniel's Broiler,
and Sea Star Restaurant and Raw Bar and McCormick and Schmicks.
Bellevue also boasts an extensive and well-maintained park system that rivals
any in the Northwest. For example, a major feature of downtown is the
appropriately named Downtown Bellevue Park, a large (20 acres) and elegant green
space dominated by a half-mile long circular promenade that is a popular place
for jogging, walking and socializing. A parallel canal ends in a waterfall and a
large pond that reflects the evergreens and skyscrapers in the distance.
Parks, trails and other protected areas account for 14 percent of the city's
total area. This figure does not include the more than 50 miles of free-running
streams in the city, some of which are used by salmon for their migrations to
and from the Pacific Ocean. For this reason Bellevue is sometimes referred to as
a city within a park.
All of this is helping Bellevue to become a city with a livable downtown (which
is still unusual in much of the U.S.). In fact, the number of downtown residents
has been expanding in recent years and it is even becoming somewhat of a
retirement destination because of its unique combination of convenience
(including the ability to walk to a wide and growing array of shopping,
restaurants and cultural facilities), safety, good climate and excellent medical
facilities.
Downtown also contains the Meydenbauer Center a full-service convention
center and theater on the eastern edge of downtown. Right in the center of
downtown is the new and distinctive Bellevue Arts Museum, which, despite some
initial teething problems, promises to become a major regional cultural
resource. The downtown core also contains several movie theaters and art
galleries.
Bellevue also has its own symphony orchestra and an opera company. Moreover, it
is home to the annual summer Pacific Northwest Arts and Crafts Festival, one of
the largest outdoor events of its type and one which attracts participants and
visitors from many other states and Canada. Bellevue's cultural life will be
further boosted by a major center for the performing arts, construction of which
is expected to begin in the near future.
Bellevue also boasts outstanding shopping facilities that cater to every taste
and income level. For example, downtown is home to Bellevue Square, which is
consistently rated as one of the finest shopping centers in the U.S. and one of
the top visitor destinations in the Pacific Northwest. |
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